Santo Domingo is the biggest church in Oaxaca, and seems to be where everything happens. The grounds take up four square blocks, and consist of the church, the ex-convent (which is now a huge museum), the botanical gardens, and the buildings at the entrance to the gardens, at least part of which is a library.
The front door to the church faces west.
Behind the church (at the top right) is the entrance to the gardens and library. They restrict entry to the gardens, so you have to sign up for a guided tour in order to see it.
There are several open courtyards, but hardly any doors accessing them.
One of the bell towers
The church at night
The garden in front of the church is fairly monotonous, but at least people are not tempted to walk through the middle of it.
As you walk into the church, the amount of embellishment everywhere is a bit overwhelming.
Side chapel with light streaming in
The painting covering the walls at the entrance to the convent is quite detailed and elaborate. This portion shows a list of dates that the buildings were built or renovated. This design was painted on most of the first floor ceiling arches.
Upstairs in the convent, there are very long, cool hallways. The walls are very thick, and keep out the hot sun.
This is the courtyard at the entrance to the convent. It has a fountain in the middle and rainspouts held by little faces all around the edge.
I call this one the cobblestone courtyard. That’s all that it had in it. The rooms on the first floor were not open to us, but the upper floor contained museum rooms full of artifacts on different topics.
The round roofs are brick. See next picture for the inside view.
The ceilings are often the most interesting part of the room.
There are many icons in the alcoves of the main part of the church.
All done.
